Peregian Beach Community Association Inc (PBCAI) has supported Council’s aim of restoring a genuinely local surf club in Peregian Beach, but says a transparent and effective process cannot begin without the release of the Surf Life Saving Sunshine Coast Branch (SLSSC) submission to reactivate the top floor.
Noosa Councillors on Monday, in the General Committee, decided to provide a new Trustee Permit to SLSSC for the Peregian Beach Surf Club building. This will enable SLSSC to enact a new strategic plan to establish a new local surf club entity.
“This new local surf club entity is the outcome we and Council has been seeking for a number of years,” Barry Cotterell, President of PBCAI said today.
The recommended Trustee Permit also seeks to facilitate other community groups’ use of the upper level, where it does not compromise surf life saving activities.
“PBCAI welcomes SLSSC being required to provide reporting of key performance indicators and progress toward establishment of a new Peregian Beach Surf Club entity and to facilitate community access and use of the Level 1 building space”, Barry Cotterell said.
“However, for the Peregian Beach community to fully understand the Council decision and what SLSSC proposes to deliver, it is necessary for Council to release the strategic plan document, Peregian Beach SLSC – A Pathway to the Future of Local Lifesaving, which “articulates a roadmap to establish a new local surf club entity”, Mr Cotterell said.
“The SLSSC strategic plan and its goals, milestones and key performance indicators not only need to be incorporated as conditions of the Permit but also made public for the sake of transparency”, Mr Cotterell said.
“To enable Council to achieve its objectives it will depend on the Conditions of the Permit and these will need to allow it to regularly monitor the progress of the implementation of these objectives” Mr Cotterell said.
“SLSSC could immediately show its good faith by requiring the Noosa Club to stop using the ground floor training rooms for the storage of non-lifesaving purposes. The building should be efficiently used and not be used as a storage facility”, Mr Cotterell said.
“The community use by the Ocean Life Saving Association (OLSA) of the top floor should not be restricted by the use of the ground floor for non-lifesaving purposes especially where those uses are not related to the Peregian Beach community” he said.
“PBCAI congratulates Council on explicitly prohibiting the installation and operation of gambling machines or gambling facility in this Permit and any future long-term Trustee Lease” Mr Cotterell said.